The Thing That Advanced
by One Nutty Tree
Summary: When dropping Amy and Rory off on Planet Beluvcra, dubbed Honeymoon Island the 11th Doctor wants to leave quickly. He was not expecting to face one of his deadliest enemies, and one of his sweetest companions.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The thing was advancing towards her. It was too close for comfort. Jade tried to run but she was rooted to the ground in fear. It reached out a shrivelled pale hand...coming for her. Jade frantically shook her head.

"N-no! Not now!" she stuttered, but it was no use.

The hand was only an inch away from her head and no matter how she tried it was unstoppable. It suddenly made contact with her forehead and she nearly collapsed in agony.

"Stop it!" she yelled at the creature.

It felt like she was burning, like a candle and then it stopped. She lay shaking on the ground.

"W-what do you want!"

It knelt beside her.

"It's the stuff inside that I need." it replied in an old croaking voice.

Then Amelia Pond awoke with a scream.

"Amy are you okay?" asked a concerned voice.

She turned her head to look up at her new husband. Her vibrant red hair fell over his bare chest. A warm fuzzy feeling ricocheted around her head and the dream was instantly forgotten, at that time Amy would've put everything down to love. Now she was oblivious to the true meaning of that strange sensation. She smiled radiantly.

"Everything's just wonderful!" she laughed.

Rory frowned, something was wrong, but he could feel it slipping from his mind like sand through fingers. Soon his face broke into a smile, he was in the biggest bedroom in the TARDIS with his wife, why should he be worried?

Then the doctor burst in, as usual giving him a good reason. Amy quickly pulled up the humungous duvet with a squeal.

"Don't you knock?" Rory spluttered.

"Erm...let me think..."

The doctor exited the room, then knocked, then entered.

"Happy now?" he questioned crankily.

"Not particularly."

"Oh but you are, we're close to Beluvcra now, we are passing through a mild physic field."

"What's Beluvcra island?" she asked.

"Physic field?" Rory murmured in anticipation.

"Doctor explain." Amy commanded.

"Ah now I never said it was an island, see! The physic field is already influencing you. But it's not dangerous! No turbulence for this landing, oh no, Beluvcra is the best place to avoid danger!" he paused, looking slightly disappointed, then continued. "Beluvcra is a planet known for its beauty, not only is it pretty but it literally emits happiness!"

"Yes but what does Beluvcra mean?" Amy demanded impatiently.

"In English? Well –"

There was a short silence.

"- it is known as Honeymoon Island. Just came to tell you we'll be landing soon."

The Doctor left the room with a sheepish expression on his face, mingled with a sadness which puzzled Amy.

"Right! Time to get changed." she announced.

"Oh do we have to? Every time we go out there changing is it literal." Rory joked.

But Amy knew he didn't mean anything by it, he was just as exhilarated by their experiences as she was, but this thought was rudely interrupted as the Doctor entered the room again. Amy was forced to dive under the covers, shoving Rory down.

"Sorry! Forgot to knock," he said sounding a bit more sincere this time.

She was about to complain but then the Doctor said the strangest thing.

"didn't you scream earlier?"

Rory and Amy looked at each other.

"No." they replied in unison.

They waited at least 5 minutes after the Doctor had left this time to ensure he wasn't going to come back again at an awkward moment. They then started to get changed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The alien planet was beautiful. As the Doctor stood on the cliff side the 18 colour rainbow shone down on him and he could hear the cheerful chirrups of the population below. The noise echoed through the ravine bouncing off the crystal waterfalls until it reached him. He sniffed the air and detected a million different scents, one ready to please the next visitor each time.

Out of all the planets the Doctor had visited: this was paradise, he knew that but he didn't want to be sucked into it all again. He'd stay for as long as Rory and Amy would, nothing longer. The memories were already becoming painful within a few minutes of touchdown on the familiar soil. Rory left the TARDIS and came to stand by the Doctor, his footsteps may have been silent in the mesmerising world but his call wasn't.

"Wow! Amy look at this!" yelled Rory making the Doctor jump in surprise.

Amy opened the TARDIS door, ran out to the cliffside and looked down.

"This must be the most picturesque spot in this whole place!"

"Oh no there are plenty more." the Doctor assured them. "Off you go then. Oh and take this with you."

He handed them a thin shiny object, a TARDIS key. Amy and Rory managed to keep their mouths shut but the widening of their eyes showed their surprise just as well.

"It doesn't just unlock the TARDIS; it tells you when you're getting close to it. I'll be staying here, you two have fun."

"Aren't you coming with us?" Amy wondered.

"It's called Honeymoon Island. I'm not exactly their ideal customer."

"That's never stopped you before." she murmured quietly.

"Well if you really want to stay... come on Amy!" Rory encouraged but Amy could tell even he was confused by the Doctor's sudden change of attitude.

The pair scouted the huge ravine looking for a way down, until they eventually found a set of old marble steps nearly worn away by the wind's erosion. The Doctor stood on the cliff and watched them until they made it to the floor of the gorge and then went back into the TARDIS. From far below Amy observed him carefully.

"I thought he was just saying that so he could muck about on his own but apparently not." she noted.

"I know it's strange, but we should just let him be. For once in your life, don't worry about the Doctor."

He'd decided that he'd tortured himself long enough with that brief glimpse of his past. As the Doctor wandered towards the TARDIS control panels he pondered over what he could do whilst he was waiting for Amy and Rory. He had a time machine; he could disappear and be back one minute later. But due to the complication of the troubles the universe contained there was no guarantee he'd be back, or remember to come back for that matter. The universe was and will always be a busy place, filled with foes. Besides, in the words of Donna Noble he needed someone to stop him.

He sat down, pressing a button on the TARDIS, a few seconds later he had a comfortingly hot bowl of fish custard. The Doctor didn't know how it worked but couldn't care less. Comfort food indeed! He never normally had time for this special treat but now...

"Maybe I could explore the TARDIS? She's so new to me! I don't really know her yet."

There was a short silence as the Doctor remembered that now he had nobody to talk to. Again.

"Don't think like that, it won't be for long. Oh dear, talking to myself. Time for TARDIS exploration!" he decided and started to climb the stairs.

After several hours of pure curiosity the absence of his newly wed friends didn't seem so important, what with the brilliance of the TARDIS and the physic field of happiness it was very difficult for the Doctor to remain depressed. He wondered why he was staying on this beautiful planet, what was so amazing about it when all it brought back was painful memories and he had so many other places to see? He took a detour down the next corridor until he was back in the control room. He was about to press a switch, one that would inadvertently start the TARDIS flying to a random location. Just for fun.

The screen above the TARDIS controls flickered from the usual line graph until it was suddenly showing utter darkness. That made the Doctor snap out of his weird happy trance.

"Whoa! What are you trying to show me dear?"

He jumped to the left twisting a few knobs and then veered back round the corner to look at the screen again. As he homed in on the strange signal that the TARDIS was broadcasting he muttered a quiet thank you, he'd nearly abandoned Rory and Amy. He wasn't alone with the TARDIS; sometimes he thought it knew when he needed stopping. But why had it been necessary? He'd had plenty of practice at living with himself.

"You know me so well!" he said to the TARDIS. "Wait a minute...that's not you...that's- that's the planet! But why would it want to project something so menacing into a visitor's mind?"

As realisation dawned the Doctor knew he'd just lead his friends into a most terrible trap.

He raced out of the TARDIS and frantically searched for the marble steps. They were gone. He had to scramble down the hard way, but he'd had plenty of practice. By the time he was on the ravine floor he really was the raggedy doctor. Turning on the spot he saw none of the locals, just a few radios badly concealed behind greenery.

"Oh shut up!" he said, kicking one of the radios.

Some of the cheerful chirrups abruptly stopped. He started to run, the remaining sounds followed him into the distance but gradually the mocking, fake laughter faded. This was not good.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I was nearly rid of you!" yelled the girl, now hanging upside-down limply from chains on a wall.

A spotlight shone down on her through a carefully concentrated speck of light, but apart from that it was impossible to see anything in the darkness of the cavern where the thing lived. Its face was not visible and for that Jade was glad, from all the stories she'd heard she knew it'd be all the worse for her if she could see it in light.

"He'll get you for this! You can count on it!" she screamed.

Footsteps echoed as the thing walked towards her. Then a familiar blue light shone in her eyes. Her face broke into a smile, but she was still in danger and now he was too. Then again, that was the way it always was.

Amy awoke again. But this time she was unsure how to react, it hadn't been a nightmare. All the same it had felt unpleasantly real but at least she'd sort of been saved in the end. She eventually decided it had been a cliff hanger ending and that she'd leave it at that.

"Rory?" she called softly.

They'd stopped to rest under the starlit sky in a forest. The stars here were amazing, like fragments of the queen's jewels shining down on them in all the colours of the rainbow. She wasn't at all surprised. She spotted her husband lying by a tree snoring loudly. A sharp pinch to the shoulder woke him up.

"Ow! What did you do that for – oh wow!"

"Yep!"

Amy started to walk, in no particular direction; she was aiming for whatever this world brought her next.

"It's very quiet here compared to those noises back in that ravine." she commented as they continued. "Plus this is a forest there should be loads of animals squawking about."

"Amy this is an alien planet, who says they're going to abide by typical Earth rules?" Rory reminded her.

There was a sound of someone speeding through the undergrowth and suddenly the Doctor scooted round the corner and skidded to their sides.

"Blimey could you two have gone any further?" he panted.

"I knew you couldn't resist!" Amy laughed.

"Actually it's painful being here. First because of Jade and now because I think I've worked this place out. A bit."

"Who is Jade?" Amy asked teasingly.

"Not someone to be joked about."

Amy was taken aback by his almost angry tone.

"You were right by the way Amy, no matter where you live a forest is always full of things! There should be some noise."

She looked at Rory. The 'I told you so' was clear on her face.

"How did you know she said that?" Rory questioned.

"That TARDIS key I gave you is a special one. It's a 2-way system. It's connected to the TARDIS and so am I. I just did a bit of fiddling with that one so it'd be a bit more useful; I don't mind if you go wandering off so long as I know where you are and preferably what you're up to."

"So you're spying on us?"

"No, the speech hearing thing only kicks in when I'm getting close to you. Basically this little thing is a tracker. To be honest I wish I'd thought this thing up ages ago...could have come in handy."

"Why are you here? You said it was painful-"

"Yes, I'll manage. Something about this place is very wrong."He strode over to a tree and put his ear against it. "Oh that is so very not good."

Amy joined him listening to the tree and was shocked by what she heard. It was an exact recording of her dream.

"Doctor what is it?" Rory asked, but this time Amy answered.

"It's Jade."

For a minute the Doctor smiled at the name but then he got back to work.

Turning to Amy he placed his hands on the sides of her face. She closed her eyes involuntarily and he was not pleased by what he saw. Letting go he turned to Rory.

"Right, the whole planet is broadcasting. Even the trees! It's yelling out danger, danger and nobody's been stupid enough to ignore such a warning except us. Yes thanks Amy."

"What did I do?"

"The next time you start having mysterious nightmares as soon as we get to a planet with a physic field around it – you tell me." he virtually shouted all in one breath.

"She didn't even tell me." Rory noted in a hurt tone.

They were husband and wife now; according to his rules anything of any importance or less they were meant to share. AKA – everything.

"Tell you what?" Amy wondered in confusion.

"That's exactly it you can't remember the first dream. The planet's defence system is good but something has been wiping its warnings from your head. Something that now lives here."

"Doctor who is Jade?"

"The most brilliant woman."

He turned to face Amy with these words. She could see how his huge smile almost split his face in half yet he was almost on the verge of tears. Now that would be an unusual tourist attraction, she found herself thinking. The Doctor continued to explore the forest briefly, listening to the trees, sniffing the air and even rolling about on the ground. Rory sidled up to his wife.

"Has he always been this weird?" he whispered.

"Yes." she replied loudly.

"Of course!" the Doctor announced. Rory looked away sheepishly, ashamed that he'd even questioned it. But the Doctor was on a new topic now. "Why did I not see it before?"

"Doctor what is it?" Amy asked running up to him.

"D-Doctor what's that?" stuttered Rory, he was pointing at a shadow in the bushes.

The Doctor turned.

"Everything's going to be fine." he promptly lied.

"This thing's _that _bad!" Amy gasped in horror and beckoned to Rory to join them.

But Rory was still transfixed at the shadow that was now emerging from behind the trees, he wasn't moving. Amy ran over to him.

A sickening slithering sound tickled the leaves beneath their feet. The monster was approaching. As the Doctor listened to it he was aware that there was only one thing this could be.

"Be careful!" the Doctor warned. "Don't look at its face whatever you do. Stare at your shoes or stare at a tree for all I care! Just look away!"

"Ah that voice! How I have misssed it. No matter how many timesss your body changesss I will alwaysss recognise your vocal chordsss."

"I haven't missed yours, you sound all snakey! What happened? Why aren't you dead?" the Doctor replied keeping his eyes on Amy and Rory.

They were both looking into each other's eyes. It didn't look very comforting; they could see the fear inside each other. After a few minutes they seemed to realise this too so instead Amy hugged Rory closing her eyes.

"After you and that woman left me in the sssnake pit I thought I wasss going to die."

"Yeah so did I. Move on please." the Doctor reminded sensing a monologue of description.

His enemies tended to do that.

"But I didn't. My dabbling had changed their ssspeech pattern entirely. I could underssstand them and they could underssstand me. I don't know how long thisss had been going on for but the ssstupid creaturesss – "

"He's talking about snakes right?" Rory asked.

The Doctor nodded.

"- believed that if I could ssspeak their language I wasss one of them. My machine had backfired into a transsslator like your sssilly blue box."

"Don't diss the 'bigger on the inside'!" Amy called out in a muffled voice.

The Doctor smiled proudly, he couldn't have said it better himself.

"They helped me to leave the pit with their knowledge. I escaped as soon as I could and now I've met you again. The one very person I needed to meet. How's Jade?"

It was cruel how two simple words could affect the Doctor so badly, it was as if the thing had just said: bad wolf. His face crumpled. The creature slithered further towards him and he kept his eyes on his feet. Amy was now watching the Doctor's face intently. She'd never seen him like this before; it was almost like he was helpless. But he couldn't be - the Doctor always had a plan. Then the monster did something none of the group were expecting, it fell to the floor lifting up its dark draping hood to reveal the face underneath. Its head was now on the Doctor's feet looking up at him.

There was a scream. At first Amy couldn't believe it, but she double-checked, it was coming from the Doctor's mouth. Rory looked just as horrified as she was. She ran towards the cloaked black creature but it turned and she was forced to close her eyes. Just in the nick of time too! She felt slimy wet hands take hold of her and sling her onto what felt like the thing's back. It was very spiky.

Rory looked at Amy's piggyback ride, then at the unconscious Doctor who was lying at an awkward angle by the tree. She was putting up a big fight, hitting it, kicking it and yelling at it but to no avail. It simply bent its knees and sprang high into the atmosphere. It didn't come down again.

Rory ran over to the other side of the small clearing he was in. If the Doctor wasn't already in such a sorry state Rory might've yelled at him but instead he simply checked the pulse. As if on cue the Doctor opened his eyes. If sadness had a voice he'd be screaming right now, Rory could see everything in the Time Lord's eyes.

"I'm fine." the Doctor muttered. "It just really hurts."

He shifted so he was now sitting up straight wincing as he did so.

"What was that thing?" Rory asked staring up at the sky.

"I'm sorry."

That caught Rory's attention, it was completely off topic. This probably meant that the Doctor was onto something.

"What are you apologising for?"

"I know you're angry."

Rory almost laughed out loud at this reply. It was so unlike the Doctor to have time to deal with his emotions amongst everything else.

"I'm always angry about something or other."

"Not this angry, that thing took Amy from you. I know how it feels." That silenced Rory. "You know Time Lords can fall in love too, I had a wife once."

"What happened to her?"

"She's dead now."

"Oh."

"I'm doing it again aren't I? Let's talk about something less depressing." the Doctor announced but Rory could still see the age old sadness in his eyes. "We need to find Amy. But how?" he stated.

"She has the TARDIS key." Rory mentioned.

"Rory you're brilliant! I'd nearly forgotten about that, I was thinking of searching for her the old fashioned way, should've made that key thing a long time ago. It would've been really useful."

The Doctor scrambled to his feet like a squirrel forgetting that it really hurt for him to move at the moment. He doubled over gasping in pain.

"Wow. What did that thing do to you?" Rory asked in concern as he stood next to him unsure of what to do.

"Just what it does to all its other prey, sucks their life force. I'm down by 3 regenerations."

"Does that mean that Amy –"

"Right. We're going that-a-way!" the Doctor interrupted.

That response told Rory everything he needed to know.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I'm so sorry." came those familiar words, but this time from a different mouth.

The cloaked monster was pushed down, down to join the other foul creatures. The Doctor grimaced.

"It didn't have to end that way –"

"Yes it did. It killed half of the population and there was no way of getting it to calmly surrender. What else could we have done?"

"We could have given it some jellybabies and made a deal."

Jade laughed.

"You already tried that."

It was no longer possible to tell whether the two were joking or not.

Jade stood by the Doctor's side grinning but her eyes were deadly serious as she stared down upon the thing that she'd condemned. Her amber hair shone, as if relishing in the sunlight she'd seen so little of during her stay. She was holding the Doctor's hand.

The pit stretched down way below their feet, it was full of wriggling reptiles keen to devour their new friend who'd just been chucked into the pit to join them. There was only so much room in the bottom of that pit. Snakes were forced into cannibalism simply to survive the darkness of it, not that they particularly cared. As Jade looked down she was reminded of how heartless these cold blooded animals were. But then again, desperate times called for desperate measures. There were so many of them crowded into one spot that the creatures had choked on their own kind. It was a waste to leave the corpses lying around she argued. All the same the whole scenario was disgusting.

They watched the hooded thing sink beneath the tide of venomous reptiles.

"We need to go. There's no saving it. This is the only way, that's why I'm here remember? I do the acts you can't manage."

"You're right. Along with other things." the Doctor smiled.

Amy awoke. She was freezing and something was digging into her. Amy clung to the thing's back for dear life. She couldn't believe that she'd managed to doze off in such an unstable environment. She was freezing, her eyes watered as the cold wind rushed past her and she was barely able to stay balanced on the creature. They'd been flying for some time now, the planet was huge and although it felt like the creature was moving fast it wasn't moving fast enough for Amy. She just wanted to get down.

"Let me down!" she squealed.

"No." the ancient voice replied.

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

She peered over the edge of the cloak but everything still looked miniscule. There was no sign of her husband or the Doctor. She knew Rory would be fine, but she'd never seen the Doctor so vulnerable before. He'd always been her hero but she hadn't known about this strange weakness. She knew it was something to do with Jade and she also knew that her dreams were real events. The Doctor had recognised them when he listened to the tree's broadcasting.

"What did you do to the Doctor?"

"Something I should've done a long time ago, I sucked his life force."

"WHAT!" Amy yelled.

"Well, part of it. Why do you ask? Have you not heard of me before?" it asked, with a hint of amusement in its voice.

"I never heard of you until today." Amy admitted.

She found it strange calmly chatting to a clear enemy.

"Then let me tell you a tale whilst we ride the skies. Creation created me as you see me today; my face is the ugliest thing in existence. Creation wasn't pleased, so it gave me powers of life force sucking so I would no longer exist. But science got involved with the nature, things got complicated and so here I am."

"Not exactly a scientific explanation."

"I could throw you off my back if you're tired of my stories."

Amy remained silent.

"I remember last time I did this, it feels like only yesterday." sighed the thing.

"Do you have a name?"

"Yesss."

"Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"No. Don't play the fool with me, if you are the Doctor'sss companion you mussst know of my weaknesss. There isss only so much ignorance I will acknowledge."

Something burned red hot in her pocket; the heat was bearable but only just. Wondering what it was she carefully felt around until her hand closed around the pointed object. The TARDIS key was glowing.

"Do you really want to be called the Thing for the rest of your life?"

"My life won't lassst much longer. Neither will the Doctor'sss."

If the TARDIS was close did that mean that the Doctor can hear their every word? Amy thought hard, what would be vital to know if she were in Rory's position?

"I'm not afraid of you, I'm fine. Where are you taking me?" she announced slightly louder than was necessary.

"Exactly where I took Jade."

"Care to be a bit more specific?"

Before the thing could answer the TARDIS materialised beside the pair and an arm pulled her in.

Amy felt like she was home in the big blue box.

"Whoa!" she yelled.

The TARDIS lurched violently to the left as the Doctor collapsed in pain. He'd barely been standing as he controlled the machine; the usual charismatic energy that inhibited him was temporarily gone. Rory fell onto the blue lever, a control that the Doctor had dubbed 'blue boringers' but Amy knew to be stabilisers. The turbulence abruptly stopped. Amy got to her feet and kissed her husband. The Doctor was still panting on the floor as she knelt beside him.

"Please don't hug me. It'll only feel worse." Noticing Amy's expression he quickly rephrased. "That thing almost killed me Amy, everything hurts." There was a short silence. In which Amy's growl was almost tangible. "Oh fine come here!"

The hug was brief, fragile and hurt like hell. Rory had to help the Doctor up afterwards. He started to limp round the console pressing countless buttons.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Leaving." said the Doctor.

"So we're running away?"

"Yes."

"So we're letting the bad- erm – Thing escape? It could've killed me. Not to mention everyone else out there!" Amy exclaimed.

"Doctor you said it yourself that creature is erasing warnings, if we don't stop it nobody's safe." Rory argued.

"Fine. But I'm putting the TARDIS on autopilot, I need a rest." The Doctor announced before marching off as stormily as he could manage (which was not very impressive at the time).


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It hurt. Although that went without saying, but it was worse than the Doctor had expected, especially with Jade on the brain. He could feel the aching everywhere and the splitting headache that arrived with it. He was utterly drained and could take a while to recover; unfortunately the Thing was aware of this too. They both knew that the Doctor didn't have a while.

Amy entered the room. He guiltily smiled up at her from his bed wishing he could do more, laying around was the best he could do for the moment. The Doctor made an effort to sit up without wincing, feeling embarrassed that he was in such a pathetic state. He had to brave for Amy. But it was not going to be easy; he had a lot on his chest.

"Are you okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" he snapped more harshly than intended. "Sorry. I'm Mr Grumpyface today."

"You miss Jade don't you."

It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes."

"Who was she?"

"She was my first companion. We knew each other from a very young age, as we grew up together our partnership became more intimate."

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" asked the Doctor taken by surprise at Amy's strange response.

She rolled her eyes.

"Don't pretend you don't know, you've been doing it since we arrived here."

The Doctor contemplated this in a curious silence. Amy analysed his expression, not noticing the genuine bewilderment.

"You look sad and sheepish, whenever you glance at us. I have noticed you know. I think you're not used to married couples, you don't know how to act around me and Rory."

He would've laughed, if he hadn't known how much it would hurt.

"Amy it's nothing like that. Jade was my wife." He gave the sentence a few minutes to sink it before continuing. Amy's eyes widened. "We came to this planet for our honeymoon. She was kidnapped, I saved her and together we trapped the Thing. Today she's dead along with the rest of Gallifrey. I can never go back."

He could see the fires of all shades in his mind's eye. Everything burned. An entire civilisation destroyed. Species were killed off brutally in the epic Time War.

"Sounds like a massacre." Amy commented. The Doctor realised he'd been speaking out loud, a part of him lost control when he remembered: probably the alons-e part, all the more reason to stop. "That thing wouldn't tell me its name." she mentioned, conveniently changing the subject.

"I'd be surprised if it had, its name is its power. Think Rumpelstiltskin and you're on the right tracks."

"You took it down before; you must've known its name!"

"Jade took it down not me. Besides it's probably changed its name by now."

"How? If it could've left this place it would've by now, to seek revenge and stuff."

"Good point. Maybe it _can't _leave."

The TARDIS shuddered and the Doctor could tell from the noise it was making that they'd arrived. He sprung to his feet and raced to the door, biting back a yell of agony_. _If there's one thing he couldn't do it was sit around.

He flung open the door; despite his gallop Amy could tell he was exhausted. A worrying thought. Rory joined them and together the trio stepped outside. They were surrounded by more trees; it was a different part of the forest. Yet it seemed less beautiful and more sinister.

"10 yearsss I've been trapped here Doctor – no more!"

"Oh no."

The Doctor turned but it was too late, the TARDIS was gone. He yelled madly at the thin air in frustration before raising his sonic to the TARDIS key.

"That should confine it to this planet for now."

"What did you do?" Amy asked.

"That key is connected to the TARDIS, if he boosts its – erm – spying power with the sonic we – " Rory explained.

" – should be able to effectively spy on it. Well done Rory you have been listening!" congratulated the Doctor reminding him of an old schoolteacher he used to know.

"But how does that confine it?" Amy questioned.

"This Thing's been wanting revenge for a while. It leaves us stranded whilst stealing our transport and escaping, the perfect double-whammy. It's proud. And clever. By now it'll know that we're listening in, it'll try to beat us and like all bad guys will want to rub it in our face, it's not leaving yet." he summarised.

As if to demonstrate the Doctor's point the creature's voice crackled out from the key like a radio with a bad signal.

"Finally freedom! How long I have waited for – oh."

A bleeping noise followed. The creature appeared to be a few seconds behind on the Doctor's theory.

"It does censoring?" Rory asked.

"Don't be stupid, that's the TARDIS."

"Censoring." Rory decided.

"How come he even knows how to fly the TARDIS?" Amy hissed.

The Doctor put a finger to his lips. It was a good question but now was not the time.

"But that'sss imposssible! Ssspiesss indeed! Oh. Well in that cassse maybe I can sssend them a message. Doctor and co-"

Rory snorted.

"- look up!"

The Doctor was the first to spot it and pushed Amy and Rory to the floor. The TARDIS hovered several meters above them, the hooded creature's head stuck out of the door. Amy now knew the answer to her question – how could it fly the TARDIS? It couldn't. So why steal it in the first place? To kill them either way.

"You two don't look up!" commanded the Doctor.

"Why?"

"Because you could die!"

"Oh."

The Doctor quickly took his own advice ducking down beside his friends.

"Look how they all bow to me." the Thing laughed.

It was talking to itself. Interesting.

"Run." the Doctor whispered.

"I don't think ssso. I have control of Beluvcra'sss physic field – you're going to sssleep until I decide what to do with you."

As soon as the Thing said this the Doctor collapsed into an exhausted heap, he had the least energy and was the first to go down. Rory realised there was no point in staying awake, they were probably going to lose anyways. This Thing was far too powerful for them, far too handsome as well. How could he have Amy when it was so much more deserving? He shook his head violently wondering what made him think he stood a chance. But this cleared his mind.

"Handsome? Now you're just flattering yourself!" he yelled.

Amy and Rory put up a fight but soon followed the Doctor to the ground, hand in hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was a dangerous and gloomy spectacle to behold. There was no way out. The Thing was screeching and charging at Jade as she stood by the pit, she was going to go down. Its black cloak billowed as it ran, showing its strange reptilian legs as if it were a frog. However this made it limber as well as mad, not a good combination. Jade did not look afraid, although the Doctor in the distance looked on in horror unable to do anything. He knew he'd never get there in time and so did she, yet still she looked almost confident. Something had changed. Then she opened her mouth, the Doctor pictured this scene in his mind wanting to memorise this moment, these could be her last words, her last seconds with him.

"I name you – "

But a strange noise drowned out the following word, as Amy woke she realised it was Rory's snoring. She was half tempted to throttle him.

They were by the snake pit just as Jade had been in her dream. The Doctor was still unconscious but Rory was waking up. She looked at the Timelord in concern. How old was he? Surely this couldn't be good for his health. Amy almost laughed at this thought, she never considered him as a confused pensioner before. He always looked so young, it was very misleading.

"The Doctor said the Thing's real name is its power, my dreams have been trying to tell me that for a while now."

"In that case can't we just listen to the trees?"

Amy had completely forgotten about the trees.

"Rory you're a genius!"

"One problem." announced the Thing from behind. "There'sss no treesss in hell!"

She had a feeling this Thing would probably know what he was talking about when it came down to hell. With one small push the couple were tumbling into the darkness of the snake pit.

It was a surprisingly soft landing, with a muted thud on the surface of scales.

"Where are we?" Rory gasped.

"In the snake pit, I've seen this place in my dreams."

"You ssspeak like usss?" purred a nearby reptile.

Amy and Rory exchanged glances.

"The TARDIS can translate anything!" they exclaimed in unison.

They looked at the snakes below them and realised they were sinking.

"Make way we have another human one of usss!" it announced. "I am Sssaal, pleasssed to meet you."

The other snakes began to pop their heads up from the depths below greeting the pair. Rory and Amy sank together but into a pocket of space, snakes seemed to form a house around them.

"We've decided to sssubject you to quessstioning." explained Saal. "The lassst human we thought wasss one of usss had to be put down. He had no ressspect for our waysss."

"He dessserved it!" piped up another snake.

"Be quiet Sssili!"

"Who was this human?" Amy asked.

"Actually maybe he wasssn't human, he had fisssh legsss, a ssspiky ssspine and a deadly face. He sssurvived due to that face rather than due to our generosssity."

The other reptiles shuddered at the memory, making the walls wriggle in the process.

"In the end we decided enough was enough!" hissed Sisili.

"What did he do?" Rory wondered.

"Firssstly he never told usss hisss name which was sssimply plain rude. Sssecondly he killed with hisss face, then ate hisss victimsss raw with hisss own bare handsss. It wasss how he ssstayed alive. Cannabalisssm isss normal for usss, we're usssed to it. Itsss the only way to sssurvive but we only do it to thossse who asssk for it. We are a sssensssible race you know."

"Who would ask for death?"

"Thossse who are sssuicidal, thossse who are too old to sssurvive, thossse who are injured or dying already and want usss to put out their pain. Thisss way we ssstill have a ssstrong, faithful sssociety basssed on bondsss of trussst." Amy was surprised, for snakes this was pretty civilised. "Anywaysss we're meant to be quessstioning you!" Saal remembered.

"But wait, put down? What do you mean the Thing had to be put down?" Rory investigated.

"Why are you ssso interesssted in this creature?" asked another snake.

"It's not like you get a strange face murdering creature every day now is it?" Amy pointed out.

"I sssupossse ssso. We don't exactly get out much, there could be plenty out there for all we know!"

"What do you mean by put down!"

"Oh if you insssisst! But after thisss no more quessstionsss from you!"

"No promisssesss." Amy muttered mockingly; she'd never been terribly fond of snakes.

"We are the Naja naja sssnakesss, we ussed to be found in the Indian sssubcontinent, but then we were moved over here. I can't remember why, it wasss sssuch a long time ago."

"Is this going anywhere any time soon?" Amy pondered at her husband.

"I loved those sssnakecharmers, ssso charming! We were sssinglehandedly resssponsssible for causssing the mossst sssnakebitesss in India – my mother wasss ssso proud. Our bitesss are venemousss. I bit that creature myssself but over time our venom hasss changed. It isss lesss efficient but ssstill deadly. It isss ssstill painful but takes yearsss to kill. The Thing ssshould be dying right now!"

"How did it escape?"

Caught up in his tale, Saal ignored the fact that this was another question. The snakes around him weren't terribly impressed but said nothing; it was clear that he was their leader, one who wouldn't be challenged for a while.

"Although it never gained my trussst it did befriend othersss of my kind, when it had enough followersss they formed a ssstrongly built bridge. It wasss a plait of their own bodiesss that entwined up the pit wall. Thossse sssnakesss were punissshed for their disssobedience don't you worry! Now I will asssk the quessstions. Who are you?"

"I'm Amy Pond."

"I'm Rory Pond."

This simple sirname joke sparked up friendly warmth inside them and as they smiled at each other the snakes knew the couple were more than friends.

"Why are you here?"

"Believe me we did not do this on purpose. You may be very nice for a bunch of snakes – "

"What'sss that sssupposssed to mean?"

Amy continued as if she were unaware of the evident interruption.

"We were pushed by that Thing."

"Ssso you are an accomplice!"

"No! We hate it as much as you do. We have this friend, the Doctor and the Thing was horrible to him."

"Did you jussst sssay the Doctor?"

"Yes."

"How many heartsss doesss he have?"

"Two."

"Then you mussst go. If the Doctor isss here then he needsss help, Jade hasss told usss ssso much about him in our dreamsss."

"but how do we leave?"

"The sssame way that ssscum did, want a boossst?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

As soon as the Doctor groggily opened his eyes he knew something was wrong. For starters he was upside-down. Secondly, he couldn't see a thing. A single spot of light shone down on him, carefully aimed at his eyes to blind him. He carefully probed his surroundings with his hands memorising the cold, moist stones behind his dangling figure. He impatiently waited for his eyes to adjust.

"Amy? Rory?"

Nobody answered as his voice reverberated. He hadn't expected anyone to, but there was no harm in checking. The Doctor was utterly alone left to think of whatever was happening to his friends. It was not a cheerful prospect. He assumed that the Thing was dealing with them. But he shouldn't worry about them for the moment; he should worry about escaping so he could rescue them from whatever inevitable peril they'd got themselves into this time.

Suddenly he noticed a faint light. It shimmered a glowing white and floated towards him. As it came closer he realised it was some sort of orb. For a second he thought he saw Jade's face.

"I'm just a shadow. Don't kid yourself." came the mystical voice.

"You're pretty bright for a shadow – you're physic residue." The Doctor realised.

The last time he had encountered such stuff was when the Dreamlord was invented. He hoped that his wife would be more friendly.

"We don't have much time. I'm only a tiny part of the woman you knew but that's not important." said the light.

"You're Jade's preserved consciousness! What did that Thing do to you in this cave – has it done it to me yet?"

"Forget about me-"

"How?"

" - the handcuffs should be easy to break free from."

"But I can't even see them."

"That's why I'm here."

The ball of light hovered closer to his wrists. He turned his head away from the blinding spotlight to look at the remains of his wife. As the Doctor fiddled with the handcuffs he thought he saw the light _smile._

"Be careful, the fall is going to hurt." Jade was right, the Doctor knew how to tuck and roll but not in a dark cave. There was a loud crash and small moan. "Don't be such a baby!" Jade laughed.

"It's alright for you; I'm down by 3 generations! How are you even here? Physic residue doesn't live."

It was at times like these that the Doctor wanted the light to have a face. Then at least he'd be able to examine her expression.

"I'm not alive. I'm just a faint consciousness, I'll be gone soon. You need to understand that. I'm a Timelady, which gives me a certain advantage to my situation I suppose. Our kind is so influencial – you'd be amazed at what we can do."

"Been there, done that. Now how do we get out of here?"

"There's no we. Turn around."

The Doctor turned startled by his wife's cold remark. He knew it was true but its meaning cut through deeply. He couldn't just forget.

The Doctor now found he was facing the wall, he couldn't see it as the place was pitch black but he could feel it. Whipping back round he found that Jade had gone. Well, what remained of Jade. He began to the follow the wall hoping beyond hope that it headed somewhere reasonable. Some place where evil Thingies wouldn't hold you hostage. He banged his head on a low bit of wall and yelled. So far this had not been a very good day. He wished his companions were having a better time than him.

A horribly throaty cough echoed through the cave. More hacking followed. The Thing sighed, the sooner it dealt with the troublesome companions the better, but first he had to see to the Doctor. Revenge was the priority. It proceeded to limp onwards, its nocturnal eyesight playing its part. The creature sounded like a ghost from a children's tale, except the unnatural rattling was coming from its mouth rather than chains - even coming from a Thing that was a bad sign. Finally it found the spot where the irritating Timelord had been tethered. The rope hung loosely, the pair of handcuffs tied to the end of it. The Thing let out a guttural cry of rage, as it did so golden time energy left its mouth, usurped from the Doctor's life force. The creature had little time left for itself. The poison was killing it slowly and painfully from the inside out. So far it had managed to survive off its last feed. The Thing's face twisted into a crooked smile, the Doctor had unknowingly provided it with its greatest weapon, and it had yet to be used.

Despite the Doctor's wishful thinking Rory and Amy were just as stuck as he was. On the bright side at least they had escaped from the snake pit. Amy shivered as she remembered the ordeal, she was glad to be out of there. Even though they'd seemed friendly enough the tide of scales had still managed to creep her out. She could sense that Rory was glad to be out of there too. All the same they were back where they started but this time had no idea where the Doctor was. It was as if they'd accidentally reversed several steps.

"How are we supposed to find him in this place?" Amy wondered aloud.

Beluvcra was still devastatingly beautiful but now seemed sinister as well. It was as if discovering the Thing's presence had tainted the place. Rory shrugged.

"I have no idea."

For a few minutes there was silence.

"DOCTOR WHERE ARE Y –" Amy yelled.

Rory slapped his hand over her mouth to muffle her cries. Amy's eyes threw daggers at him.

"Sorry but you're more likely to attract that Thing than the Doctor."

Amy shoved his hand away.

"Well what do you suggest then?" she humphed angrily. "Check the Honeymoon Island brochure for evil lairs!"

The entire prospect was ridiculous but when it came to the Doctor that went without saying.

"We could split up?" Rory suggested hesitantly.

"NO. I mean, come on Einstein separation is what got us into this mess!" Amy scolded.

"Look our best bet is to walk on aimlessly, search and hope."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

So the bickering couple began to walk into the serene forest once more.

"So which way are we going?" Rory asked eventually.

"I thought you knew!"

Rory groaned, _now_ she decided to let him take charge.

"Amy we've never been here before and the Doctor didn't exactly give us a map." he impatiently pointed out.

"Yes, well for once I'd like to know where I am! You hear that Doctor?" Amy shrieked.

Rory took a step forward rolling his eyes. This was so typical. That was when something large and slightly furry fell on his head.

He fell over; partly in surprise, partly due to the force of the foreign nut. Amy rushed over to him.

"Are you okay?"

"Does ow answer your question?" She helped him sit up as he rubbed his head. He looked at his wife trying to blink out the blurriness. "Where did that come from?"

"A tree presumably. Wait a minute – a tree!"

Amy ran over to a tree at random and pressed her ear against its bark. It took disorientated Rory several minutes to work out what she was doing. He was tempted to make some sarcastic comment about tree-whisperers/huggers but couldn't think of anything. Amy closed her eyes as the tree broadcasted, replaying her latest dream.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

In the end the Doctor came to them looking slightly worse for wear. The golden TARDIS key shone like a beacon of light in his hand. It was slightly dirtied from the cave as was his dishevelled clothing, a result of losing his footing in the cave many a time; he rubbed it against his trousers and some of its gleam returned. The Doctor trudged over to Amy and Rory as they searched the cave behind them. He stood in front of them for a few seconds before loudly clearing his throat. The pair turned in unison.

"Where the hell have you been?" Rory and Amy questioned simultaneously.

"I might ask you the same thing." The Doctor replied.

Amy charged towards him armed with a huge hug. Rory noticed the look of shock register on the Doctor's face. He wasn't quite prepared for the amount of physical pain Amy's embrace caused him but managed to pass it off with a quick grimace before she noticed.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah of course I am! You know me."

"Exactly." Rory muttered under his breath unconvinced by his carefree attitude.

"Are you two okay?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" Rory replied.

"Well you did just get hit on the head by a nut." Amy teased.

Hearing this the Doctor strode towards Rory flipping out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. It had taken some time to find it on the floor of the cave as it had fallen out of his jacket whilst he'd been suspended in the air. He sonicked Rory.

"Doctor what is it?" he asked, a note of concern creeping into his tone.

"You'll be fine. There might be a few side effects though." the Doctor explained casually pocketing his screwdriver.

"Like what?" Amy quizzed.

"A rash, headaches, swelling and...other stuff."

Rory was about to ask what the 'other stuff' was but got interrupted.

"You jussst don't ssstay put do you Doctor!" crowed the ancient voice.

They looked around themselves for the signature black cloak of the Thing but could not see it trailing anywhere. Wherever it was, it was out of sight.

"Ooh you don't sound well!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"It's dying." Rory confirmed.

"Really? Where did you find that out?"

"Don't ask." muttered Amy.

"If I'm going to die I want to go with a sssmile on my ugly face."

"All of this was about revenge? Even stealing the TARDIS? That's rather elaborate." Rory complimented.

"Ssstealing the TARDISss wasssn't ssstaged. I wanted to be free but my condition worsssened so I had to turn round. I could barely control that machine of yoursss."

"Yeah, how did you control the TARDIS?" Amy asked suspiciously.

"The sssame way I've influenced Beluvcra's physssic field and the sssame way I'm going to dessstroy you."

"Enough of this chit chat where are you? You sound close, how can you be this close and not visible? Show yourself!" the Doctor commanded.

"Very well."

The Thing stepped out of thin air.

"But that means the TARDIS must be here. Have you turned her invisible?"

"No. I've merely altered your perceptionsss through the psychic field."

"But even you don't have that power!"

"You mean he's making optical illusions?" Amy suggested.

"Like mirages?" Rory added.

"Yes, but how?"

The Doctor had a bad feeling; he was missing something – something big.

"You should know how, it was you who gave me this weapon." The Doctor examined the Thing whilst avoiding its face but it made eye contact. He started to yell but this time the companions were prepared. Rory pushed the Doctor down breaking the eye contact. The creature growled slightly but knew that now the Timelord would no longer be able to escape. "Thank you Doctor, you've just given me even more power – timelord energy!" Unfortunately the Doctor knew this to be true, for a few seconds he'd seen the golden swirls of time in its eyes. Luckily for them it hadn't got enough to regenerate. The creature had been living for all these years off the small bit of energy it had sucked from Jade last time they'd visited, through that it'd been able to influence the physic field, but now it had a lot of new power. "Now to destroy your new female companion."

It turned to Amy. She averted her eyes as it unfurled a clawed hand pointing in her direction. The golden light gathered in columns rising up from its dry palms and formed a bolt of power that charged towards her. The physic field was restraining Rory along with the Doctor who was far too weak to help anyways; he was on his knees watching her with a look of complete despair in his eyes. Time seemed to run in slow motion as Amy uttered the words that mattered most.

"I name you Kevin!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Kevin whirled around on the spot, he no longer had control over his body but the poison did. So did Amy. The fairytale man Rumpelstiltskin had been based on one of his ancestors for a reason, even if it was based only loosely, his name was his ultimate power therefore it had to be the ultimate secret. But now somebody had discovered it again, he had no chance. He could feel his will slipping away like sand through fingers. Kevin felt the pain worse than ever; he'd used so much of the Timelord energy in such a short time. It had been wasteful and now he was going to die. Properly. He let out a yell; he could hardly bear the obedience that was now forced upon him. He let out last one last yell of his own choice. "You can't do this to me – not again!" The agony swept through its body instantly like a tidal wave. The Kevin screamed and collapsed, its dark robes seeming to fold in on itself. A string of words fell from his mouth, no longer in his control. "W-what is it you command master?"

Amy couldn't believe the name had worked. Especially with such a strange name for a villain, she'd double checked the tree broadcast after hearing Jade say that. Then again it was the name she'd been least likely to think of too. Kevin, she rolled the word around in her head – it wasn't exactly menacing. It's scream diverted her attention and she watched it cowering on the floor. Amy couldn't help but feel a small pang of pity for the lump on the ground. She had to toughen up though, now she was in charge.

Rory broke through the mental barrier and ran over to his wife. His presence made her feel a lot stronger. The Doctor remained where he was smiling in relief. He knew that now everything would be okay.

"Leave us and everyone else alone."Amy paused, that didn't sound dramatic enough considering what she'd just done. "Forever."

"Easy!" it replied, with childish insanity lingering in its eyes – not that Amy was looking but she could imagine that it did have that considering its high pitched tone of voice.

The bright light before her did make Amy look up however. Kevin spontaneously combusted and that was the end of that.

"Those snakes have got some pretty special venom!" Rory remarked.

"It's mutated a lot since it was first trapped in Kevin's body. Kevin – ha! What an amazingly innocent name! How did Jade figure it out?" the Doctor wondered as he shakily stood.

"Eh-em!"

"Amy you were brilliant!"

"Thank you." she grinned proudly.

The Doctor held on tightly to a tree for support and jangled the TARDIS keys. His legs seemed to jangle in unison with them.

"Let's go and find my old girl."

One of the few who sticks around, he thought to himself. The Doctor started to stagger in a vague direction. Amy rolled her eyes and went to give him a hand.

"You really are pathetic sometimes you know!" she teased.

"Trust me, I know."

Amy was surprised by his reaction. What was he blaming himself for this time?

"Who'd have thought that a name could act as a self destruct button!" the Doctor mused to himself.

Again. The others had given up responding to these random thoughts that he voiced out loud. They were in the TARDIS once more and he felt calm.

On their way there Rory had discovered some of the other side effects of the strange nut that had fallen on his head. The TARDIS was a lot bluer than usual, not only had Rory's skin turned the colour but every time he talked blue fumes drifted out of his mouth. The gas stank but it wasn't surprising, the Doctor had known only too well what kind of nuts those were that Rory had been hit by. That particular species trapped all the pollution tourists brought to the planet, it was part of how Beluvcra stayed beautiful. It was no wonder they were rare.

It had been a pretty embarrassing discovery. They'd been walking along and suddenly there'd was a smell following them. It was vile and Rory blamed it on the dog. The Doctor had wrinkled his nose in disgust and for while he and Amy moaned at Rory. Then the blue fumes started to emit from Rory's mouth and he had to stop talking, this meant that the pollution was building up inside him instead so his skin as turning blue. It was quite a strange prospect for the unfortunate onlookers. The Doctor had informed Rory that it would only last a few hours. Rory hadn't been happy about that. But the advanced bacteria from the nut would also combat the pollution hopefully getting rid of the blue smoke. Amy was avoiding her husband as a result. The Doctor smiled guiltily as he swung a lever, but he'd make up for the honeymoon disaster this time. He knew the captain of the starship Celeste still owed him a favour.

He remembered the place well, it was pure white and contained an impressive honeymoon suite – or so he'd been told along with a control room that looked like it had stepped out of a star trek film. Yes. That would do. It would be nearing Sardick town according to the timetables. Wherever that was. What could possibly go wrong?

**The End**


End file.
